|
Post by Sadia on Jun 2, 2013 1:49:53 GMT -5
It was early evening and the night was filled with people heading to this place or that already. There was a lot of fun to be had on a night like this one; be it drinking or simply hanging out in the square with a few friends. People were just absolutely everywhere and that made her happy.
She walked along quietly, her leather clad feet making a soft padding sound on the cobbled street of the square. She was wearing a long dress made of black cotton with leather striping down from the hips to the hem. The top portion of the dress was similar with a modest neckline and long sleeves ending in a leathery point over the top of her hands. She hadn't bothered with the finger knife tonight as she wasn't planning on having to use it; not that she'd need it anyway.
Her feet stopped just before the tavern entrance and she smiled at a couple as they walk out and into the street. She caught the door just before it could close and walked in herself. The tavern was already growing in business for the night but there were a few tables still available and so she wandered over to one next to the wall and took a seat and waited for the serer to come by so she could order a drink. When she finally came around she put in her order for a light ale and settled into her chair to watch the people around her as they merrily drank there drinks and talked amongst themselves.
“Wonder what manner of interesting people I'll meat tonight.” She asked herself with a smile.
She had already had her nightly fix before she came out. Tonight wasn't about hunger it was about meeting people and making new friends. She got her feedings from donated blood that she bought through a hospital as she tried never to take that which was not willingly given.
|
|
|
Post by Ammodytes on Jun 2, 2013 5:23:44 GMT -5
Silvar entered the inn swiftly and made his way to his room. He closed the door behind him and unstrapped the shield from his back. Wiping his face with both hands he took a seat at his desk. He was tired, the day had been long but productive. His hands reached out and picked up the quill and a large piece of parchment. With great skill he started writing with big letters on the paper. In what seemed like a moment the document was done. He got up, arranged the sword on his belt then he left the room, leaving the shield on the bed. Upon reaching the main chamber of the inn he asked the barkeep for a small knife and he used it to pin the parchment on the wooden wall. He read it again to make sure everything was in order.
'Veteran mercenary is recruiting skilled warriors, Battlemages and intelligence operatives for a new mercenary unit. All who wish to join must meet me here after sunset. This post will remain here for two days.'
Satisfied, Silvar took a seat at an empty table and ordered wine, tobacco and food. Feasting with elegance he awaited the appearance of possible recruits.
|
|
|
Post by Sadia on Jun 2, 2013 13:52:55 GMT -5
Sadia watched the man walk up to the bar and then stab the notice onto the wall. She was about to get up and go see what it said when her drink came. She tossed the server a few copper coins for a tip and then took up her ale and stood. She then walked over and read the notice on the wall. Her eyebrows raised for a moment and then she turned and smiled.
This was something new. She hadn't ever actually met a mercenary before, or at least not one that she'd known about. She may have run into one at a bar someplace but never actually got to know him or her so that really wouldn't have counted. This time she figured she'd go and see if he might want some company for his dinner.
She turned and walked over to his table and looked down at him with her drink in her hand. “Hello.” She started with a smile. “Would you mind some company?” She asked. She wouldn't sit down without an invite, that would just be plain rude.
|
|
|
Post by Ammodytes on Jun 3, 2013 16:16:39 GMT -5
Silvar replied with a smile: "By all means, fair lady, please be seated." He waited for her to take her seat then he continued. "Has the sign drawn your attention, or just the empty space at my table? he asked with a smile. My name is Denethor, by the way."
He was starting to get used to this fake name. However he was waiting for the day when he could finally tell everybody about his real identity.
|
|
|
Post by Sadia on Jun 3, 2013 16:55:46 GMT -5
Sadia took her seat and smiled as he questioned and then introduced himself as Denethor. “Sadia.” She replied after she'd been seated. “No I am afraid I am not replying to your invite to join you in arms. Just looking at the empty seat at your table made me aware that I wanted some company.” She went on.
She took a small drink form her flagon and then settled it on the table in front of herself. Her deep drown eyes searched his face fora moment; not long enough to become awkward. “I've never been one for a fight but am happy there are those out there who will do what is necessary from time to time.” She then stated. “I was wondering however...” She started and then regarded the man across from her for a moment before continuing. “What does indeed drive a man to become a mercenary.. be it for good or otherwise?” She asked, hoping she wasn't offending in any way but genuinely curious.
|
|
|
Post by Ammodytes on Jun 5, 2013 3:12:51 GMT -5
"Hunger, it is what drives most people to desperate actions. And joining a mercenary unit is a desperate action." He had finished the food and was now stuffing tobacco in his pipe. He took one of the candles on the table and used it to light it. After making several smoke clouds around him he continued. "Life is never easy if you cannot be sure that you will return home alive and whole." He drew several more breaths of smoke and released them unto the chamber ceiling. The tabbaco had a wonderful smell. "I was also in a desperate situation, and when I was accepted into a unit I was so relieved. I really had nowhere else to go, and that was a long time ago." He ended with a smile.
"What about you my lady? What's your story?"
|
|
|
Post by Sadia on Jun 5, 2013 9:19:36 GMT -5
Sadia listened to this man as he spoke and nodded her head a few times as if understanding perfectly well what it was he was saying. When he was finished he asked her the inevitable question as to her own life and though she had many cover stories; people just don't like vampires, she decided to try truth with him just to see the kind of man he might really be. So many humans either rose up in fear or cowered in fear when they were confronted by a vampire. Sadia couldn't blame them too much; just a little.
“Well...” She started and took a drink. “I grew up on the streets. I don't remember much of who my parent were only a small picture in my mind of a woman that may have been my mother.” She laughed shortly and then shook her head. “At least I have always hoped that it was....” She moved on then. “I was 18 when I was given the chance to escape the streets and be something much more than what life had handed me and I was thankful for that opportunity.” She took another drink. “His name was Galdor...” She smile when she spoke his name. “He promised me everything and gave me his all...sadly he was killed 20 years later...” She frowned and looked a bit angry suddenly but the look faded almost as soon as it had started. “\We never hurt anyone; never so much as spilled a sing drop of human blood without permission...” She sighed. “After that I simply melted away into the lands and seldom looked back. I took to traveling the continents to learn what I could and keep what humanity I could for the next 270 years and then decided to settle back down in Meerin about 2 years ago. “I still hold to the beliefs Galdor taught me and never harmed a soul.”
After she finished speaking she searched the mans face for clues of his reaction. She never came straight out and said she was a vampire but the suggestions were there. She hoped this man wasn't shallow and kept a stable mind.
|
|
|
Post by Ammodytes on Jun 6, 2013 6:56:37 GMT -5
Silvar quietly placed his left hand on the sword's scabbard and, without a sound, started slowly pushing the blade out with his thumb. The table prevented his companion from seeing the movement. He stopped as she said that she had never hurt a soul, by now the blade was about two centimeters out of the scabbard. He could easily grab the handle with his right hand and swing the sword right at the vampire's head, but he stopped. Something was puzzling him.
"Why come out like this? he asked with a serious voice and a tense look on his face. I have killed many of your kind and would not regret killing another. Why tell me what you are when I would have never noticed it myself? Is this one of the sick games you walking dead like to play?"
|
|
|
Post by Sadia on Jun 6, 2013 9:51:33 GMT -5
She watched him close sly as he spoke and her eyes stayed on his. He had a good poker face but she'd been studying poker faces for over 300 years now and his was in no way perfect. She caught a few hints here and there that she'd best be on the ready with this one though she felt as well that there was a chance he could be made to understand that she really wasn't that different form him.
”What Made me come out? Nothing made me do anything.” She stated with her eyes still on the man across from her. “I wanted to. I was hoping you were a man with whom could show me that you were more than frightened by those tings that go bump in the night. That perhaps you could see past your own nose and notice that not all vampires are the same.” She regarded him for a moment before continuing. “You aren't the only one scared here you know. I am too because if you attack me I would do everything in my power not to hurt you and I would probably end up like Galdor. I just want to be able to talk to people and stay in touch is all. Some of those where I stay are pretty damned scary and don’t' make for the greatest company. So I figure that not lying to those I wish to speak to is a good way to get started.” She shrugged. It was the truth and one never made friends by telling lies.
|
|
|
Post by Ammodytes on Jun 6, 2013 13:38:43 GMT -5
Silvar laid back in his chair and started laughing really loud. He slid the sword back in the scabbard and placed both hands on his belt. His posture was now relaxed.
"See past my nose, that's a good one!" He continued laughing for a short while then he took a large drink from his cup of wine. "So Sadia, fed up with your own kind so you decided to come seek entertainment with the prey. Very, very amusing. So long as you don't raise a hand against me I will not harm you. But if someone puts a contract on you... then... you know." He laughed loudly again and took another drink. "Tell me more about this Galdor, you made me curious."
He placed the pipe back in his mouth and listened carefully.
|
|
|
Post by Sadia on Jun 6, 2013 14:40:52 GMT -5
Sadia tilted her head to the side as he leaned back in his chair and let forth a hardy laugh. She righted it again as he began to talk about her coming to talk with 'the prey' as he put it. She narrowed her eyes just slightly and then shook her head slightly and laughed as well. She guessed that it probably would seem that way to a human but in her belief humans were not prey. Certainly she needed human blood to survive but she'd never considered them to be prey. She knew that other clans saw them as nothing more than that but not her, it simply wasn't what she'd been taught.
“I understand and if I ever give any human a reason for wanting me hunted then I would gladly give myself to them as I would have become less of what I should be and more like what others view me to be.” She answered him in all honesty.
Sadia sat back in her chair and took up her drink and swallowed the remainder of its contents before returning it to the table before her. “Galdor...” She repeated the name with a hint of longing in her voice. “He was a member of a vampire clan that is older than most called the Daeva. They do not hunt humans. We buy what we need to survive. Sometimes humans will ask to be guardians and offer up what we need in hard times but in all a Daeva clan member never kills or hunts humans. These and a great many other things Galdor taught me.” She started and then looked to the waiter to bring her another drink. “Galdor was killed because a vampire hunter decided that we are all the same...” She took on an angry air; her lip curled slightly, as she spoke of this. “He was gentle, well educated... he taught me to read and write and a great many other things about the world surrounding what I knew.” She looked up and then tossed a few coins to the server as he placed her new drink on the table before her.
“What do you wish to know?” She then asked of him. “I can go on and on for hours about the kind of man he was is there something specific you are wanting or just generalization?” She then asked to be more specific.
|
|
|
Post by Ammodytes on Jun 10, 2013 2:48:23 GMT -5
"Nothing more, Silvar replied, I have heard enough and the subject is clearly not to your liking. There are things I also do not discuss because they put me in a bad mood. And this night is not for sad tales." He finished the goblet of wine and poured himself another, smoking continuously in the meantime. "I have a better idea, let me tell you a funny tale about a mission I was on."
He placed the pipe on the table, took a drink from his cup then he placed both elbows on the table's edge, holding his palms up with his fingers spread. "So there we were, in a dark forest far away from here, my entire mercenary unit was on the hunt. It was a full moon, and a local lycanthrope had gone berserk. He was a good honest man in usual days, and the villagers respected him and treated him as an equal." He stroked his hair with his left hand and his beard with his right, one could see that he was caught in the story he was telling. "Every month, when the full moon would come, he would bind himself with chains so that he would not hurt anybody in his wolf form. However, this time the chains either broke, or he didn't fix them on properly, doesn't matter. The villagers hired us to bring him back alive before he hurt somebody." He took another drink then he continued. "Yes, so there we were, moving slowly in loose formation between the pine trees. I remember hearing my heart pounding in my chest. I was holding my sword so tightly my hands were shaking. To my left was Belton, a good sturdy guy that fought with a spear... Suddenly! he said with an excited voice and a smile, the lycanthrope came out of a bush and jumped on Belton. Out of reflex, Belton pierced the wolf-man's leg with his spear, making the beast scream so loudly that I almost wet myself." Silvar laughed loudly again, placing both hands on his chest as he did so. Finishing his laughter he finished the goblet yet again and quickly filled it up. "I forgot to mention something, he said as he poured his wine, our Battlemage was a drunk, bitter old man. And that night it was no different, he was so drunk he could hardly walk straight... Ahm, right, so, Belton had just pierced the lycanthrope's leg. The beast turned around and started running so we gave chase. Of course the beast was faster so we called out to the Battlemage to capture him before we lost track. He was an earth mage so he cast a spell and raised four stone walls around the area that he estimated the beast was in. We approached the stone prison, his voice was tense, we lit torches and prepared arrows soaked in sleeping potion. Our archers took their marks. We melee fighters took our positions. The mage lowered one stone wall, aaaaaaand!..." He paused a while holding one fist up and having his face covered with a grin. "And out came a terrified baby deer. Moment at which, Silvar was struggling to contain his laughter, our mage scratched his head and said, Silvar was chuckling, 'I must have missed'."
As he finished the tale Silvar started laughing loudly again. He kept laughing until a tear formed at the corner of his eye. He took a large drink from his cup and he almost chocked on it. Eventually he started calming down.
|
|
|
Post by Sadia on Jun 10, 2013 10:44:11 GMT -5
She hadn't even realized it but the entire story she was leaning forward and listening very intently almost like a child being told some horror story from around the family hearth, When he had finished and started laughing she tilted her head to the side for a moment and then-closed her eyes and laughed very hardily.
Sadia took a long draw from her goblet and then laughed one more time; shortly. “Oh my...” She laughed again. “That must have been one frightened little animal.” She shook her head and then raised her goblet to him and smiled. “Oh the laughs you must have had...” She stated and then after a short drink she set her goblet on the wooden table and continued to grin across the table at him.
“You must have a long line of stories from your time as a mercenary. I often imagined the adventures that one such as yourself might have. I guess that you might say I have always been a bit jealous of your lot.... but only up to the point when I realize also the things you must have to do sometimes and then I am reminded that I definitely wouldn't like the life.” She stated as she plucked her drink from the table once more and then took another drink.
“So...did you ever capture you mark or did he get away?” She then asked as she held her goblet now with both hands and rested it on the table.
|
|
|
Post by Ammodytes on Jun 10, 2013 13:03:33 GMT -5
Silvar looked up at the ceiling for a moment, obviously trying to remember details. He then picked up the goblet and finished it again. He was about to start talking as he picked up the bottle to pour some more wine, but the bottle was empty. He stared at the bottle with a sad look then he turned his eyes at Sadia. "You see?... All good friendships end." He finished with yet another loud laughter then he turned towards the barkeep. "Hey! Bring us something stronger, stop treating us with this wine flavored water!"
He turned back towards Sadia. "Now then, where were we? Ah yes! The lycanthrope. Well, he spoke as he stroked his hair, after we finished laughing our helmets off, and making fun of our mage, we picked up the trail of blood that the beast had left behind. We soon came to a shallow cave. We threw a torch in and out came the man-wolf. It took four arrows to put him to sleep, he almost decapitated one of our swordsmen too, but the mage managed to erect a mud wall right before the lycanthrope's claws reached the poor fellows head. The beast got caught in the mud wall and half a minute later it was asleep. The old mage was pleased, he had cleared his name." Silvar started his usual laughter as the barkeep brought a bottle of strong plum schnapps and two small glasses.
"Ah! thank you my friend! Now then my undead lady, he said as he poured the drink in both glasses, bottoms up!" He raised his glass and poured the drink down his throat, frowning due to the strong taste of the alcohol.
"Aah yes! Good stuff!"
|
|
|
Post by Sadia on Jun 10, 2013 13:34:51 GMT -5
She laughed a little bit more as he finished his story. She found his retelling of the tale to be quite entertaining and the fact that the Mage had actually managed to clear himself was amusing to her. She found the use of the mud wall to have been quite a good idea on his part as a matter of fact. She shook her head as he called out for stronger drink and then before the waiter came back she managed to swallow down the remainder of the one she had.
After he had filled the two smaller glasses she picked hers up and held it up as he had. “To knew friends then.” She smiled then down it went. She grimaced slightly to the first taste of the drink but figured in all, it wasn't that bad.
“So.. you've been at this for a while I take it.” She stated more so than asked as she settled her glass back on the table.
She seemed to be thinking now; her eyes taking on a faraway gleam. She simply sat there and looked across the table at the man she took a bargain on and was rewarded with what she would chalk up as at least good conversation.
|
|